Secrets of the Mind
by Burning Fox of the Desert
Summary: In the world of Ninja, Lies are often necessary to keep the status quu. But not many people realize how much change can happen with a simple lie. Various flashbacks and future scenes. OC Cast. AU. Previously: World of the Lost
1. Amongst A Sea of Rain

_Drip…_

_Drip…_

_Drip…_

_Drip…_

_The rhythmic drumming of the pooled rain drops striking the cooling earth echoed through the clearing as two figures stood before each other with weapons in hand. With eyes that could kill, they glared down upon each other, the fierce reckoning only matched by the pain that they had caused each other. And though neither spoke a word, both prepared their next attack as though it were the last._

_With collective silence they leapt at each other, their weapons glinting in the dim rainy sunlight that matched to reflect through the harrowing cloud cover. The haunting, despairing sight chilled the onlookers as the two matched blade for blade in a dance of death._

_Teeth grit together in anger as one tried to overpower the other, their feud stretching back in time to a period that neither could no longer remember, but never forgot. Sparks flew between them, small patches of dirt suddenly roused from its resting place as metallic blades dug through it. The two slowly crisscrossed the land with deep gouges that would forever mar the landscape no matter how much time and erosion worked to erase it._

_The two were simply too evenly matched; their fierce breathing showing their physical exertion, but still neither could over power the other. The onlookers paled at the sight as one slipped, his balance gone under the destroyed and liquefied soil. His opponent wasted no time as he drove his metallic weapon forward._

_The blade grazed the man's side causing him to hiss out in pain as his opponent looked on impassively before jumping back to assert the damages. The cut was shallow, hardly bleeding enough to be a serious wound, but it was also the first cut of the war as this battle was later called._

_A war not fought between two enemies, but two brothers who had lost their connection to each other long ago…_


	2. A Brand New Day

_The smell of burning wood rose above the charred plains as he merely watched over it in his head. His mind was twisted in the virtues of awe and oblique understanding as he witnessed the battle over and ove. A thought occurred to him as he watched the development rage on completely unhindered, '_Why do I feel as though this has happened already…_' He desperately searched his mind for the answers as he watched one of the men duck under a wild slash before returning his own. The rain made it harder for the combatants to see, but that didn't slow down the fight anymore than the boy thought it would._

_A random erratic fire attacks flew off to the left from the taller combatant. The boy could clearly see he had black hair shaped like a ducks ass. In his eyes was a swirling mass of hatred collected in a pool of dark red blood. One could easily tell these were the final unlocked form of his families' ultimate weapon, The Sharingan. His teeth were grit with constant irritation at his opponent as his black cloak twirled in the wind. His simple clothing is what surprised the boy most however, a simple training shirt over black metallic mesh shirt and purple loose fitting pants. He also seemed to have a rather large purple rope tied around his waist that held his sword in place._

_His opponent ducked and lunged under the fire attack as he pressed his advantage. A never ending scowl seemed to deepen at the golden locks of his opponent as an equally determined look appeared on his face as well._

_The other male whose aforementioned golden locks seemed to contrast heavily with his outer wear as his piercing ocean blue eyes began to glow. His dark clothing seemed similar to his opponent but only in the aspect of his cloak. Underneath it he wore a simple ANBU outfit consisting of a black anbu vest over a black tight fitting long sleeved shirt. He wore the standard issue black pants that came with the outfit and had a fox mask attached to the side of it. _

_The two combatants never paid him much mind as they fought back and forth, not noticing the small ten year old silver haired boy as he watched their duel to the death with wide confused eyes. But then as they began to swing towards each other once more, the world suddenly turned black, and then…_

RING!

RING!

RING!

"OH MY GOD! SHUT UP!" screamed a rather small ten year old boy as he turned in his bed and grabbed his alarm clock with righteous fury before chucking it against the wall. He winced slightly as the metallic object crashed against the wall before shattering on impact with the ground. Odd metallic parts graced the wooden floor as he tsked to himself knowing his mother was going to chew him out for that one.

He sighed calmly as he slid out of bed careful not to step on the sharp metallic objects or the broken glass. He toed around the room slowly; intent on not alerting his family that he had just destroyed his fifth alarm clock…in two days.

It seriously wasn't his fault for those things; he would swear upon his grave that he was allergic to the damn things. There was no way in hell any non-inanimate object should be THAT loud in the morning.

He grumbled tiredly to himself as his grandfather decided now was the time to wake up and began to quickly chide him for thinking irrationally once again. Sometimes he really wished he had failed that damn test just so he wouldn't be dealing with this cranky old man. A subtle knock at his door wrested him out of his thoughts as he frowned quietly. It was too soon for his liking, he wasn't expecting anyone in the family to be up and about until thirty minutes later, but then he forgot that his brothers lived next to his room, and got the unfortunate wakeup call from his alarm clock smashing into the wall.

A gentle sigh escaped his lips as he flashed up a quick henge over his floor to make it seem like any other part of the room. A quick mental check through of his room revealed it to be crisp, clean, and Spartan. The bare necessities needed for a ten year old warrior. Looking through his possessions, he often wondered what the other ten year olds rooms looked like. Were they all as bare as his? Or was he simply some neat freak who couldn't take laziness as an excuse even if it was properly described in a dictionary.

Another rather harder knock at his door pulled him out of his thoughts once more. He realized he had just been standing there, thinking into the clear blue yonder for no reason at all. No wonder Uncle Felix often reprimanded him for spacing out in training and spars. But then again, there was that weird dream he had been having for the longest.

The two fighters almost resembled his classmates Naruto and Sasuke, but the fact that neither acknowledged the others presence pretty much sealed the fate on that notion, I mean really how can you hate someone when you avoid them like a plague?

The knocking at the door sounded off again. The boy sighed, once again his thoughts had run off in a different direction. His face scrunched up slightly showing his disapproval at himself before stepping towards the door.

He pulled it open to receive a vicious fist from his younger brother, who standing there while rubbing the sleep from his eyes. In his hands was a red and brown teddy bear that he had named Jo-sama when he got it on his fourth birthday.

The boy had had his hand raised to knock on the door again before releasing that he wasn't knocking on wood a second too late. He blinked away his sleep a little more before looking up face of his older brother. He noticed his hands were hitting something soft before snapping his eyes open at the sight of his hand beating on his older brother's face.

The sight would have been funny, had it not been his brother whose face he was beating on, or the fact that he seemed to already be mad at something.

The elder brother stood there growling at his younger brother, the hand still firmly planted on his face as his otouto seemed too scared to remove it. He reached up to grab the offending appendage, shocking his brother out of his stupor as he attempted to pull away from the enraged boy.

He could see the fire in his eyes, as well as the now visible aura swirling around him. "What do you want Jonas…" he squeezed out through gritted teeth. Normally he wouldn't be this harsh with his brother, normally doting on the small boy with the kind of kindness reserved for parents and their children. However this morning he was pissed, and now because of this little bastard, he was seeing red.

However before he could pummel the poor boy into oblivion, Jonas quickly blurted out, "- HUUUAAHHHHH" the boy suddenly took in a huge withdrawal of air, much to the amusement of his older brother. Obviously spouting that many words in one sentence with no breaths would leave you winded, but the little boy didn't seem to notice. Because as soon as he got his air down, "!"

The elder boy sighed. On one hand he was pissed, and wanted to take out his glorified anger on the terrified boy in his hands. On the other hand, he wasn't so pissed that he was going to hit the boy who he was tasked to protect.

He released another sigh as he let the boy go, his hands instinctively going to his forehead to relieve some of the stress that had managed to build up in his brain as Jonas continued to go off about "Sorry's" and "Please don't kill me's". He really was a handful when he wanted to be.

The elder boy sighed before shooing Jonas along, assuring him that he was okay and telling him that mother would kill him for being up so early. Watching the boy disappear into his room, he finally shut his own door.

He rubbed his forehead in frustration as he released the henge and picked up the broom and dust pan with a scowl. He could already tell today was going to be a VERY long day…

(Uchiha Compound)

Sasuke laid about in bed, clearly not ready to begin the day as he heard the shuffling feet of the few family members that had survived the clan civil war a few years back move about on their daily business. The memory of the event still brought tears to his eyes as it reminded him of his father's death, and his brother's betrayal.

He rolled over on his cot as he stared as his blank walls for a moment, his mind already drifting back to that fateful day…

[Flashback]

_Body after body flew left and right as gash wounds and spurts of blood appeared and escaped from their bodies. Dull moans filled the air as sadistic cries of glee escaped from the ones who were causing this spectacle. _

_Several blurs of black and blue flashed around the compound as the clans police force quickly acted against the trouble makers. Among these men was none other than Fugaku Uchiha, the Clan Head and Head of Police._

_The look of disdain that the Uchiha patriarch gave the situation was… disturbing to say the least. The sight of blood and the stench of gore were getting to the normally stoic man. His eyes gaping at the constant stream of horror that had spread out from one of the eastern homes in the compound; he could see that Konoha wasn't behind this attack, the mere fact that no jutsu were used to alert the village of any danger was proof enough. This was an inside job, and who ever did it didn't want everyone else to know._

_The group of police officers crept ahead slowly, flanking the main building in which the disturbance was coming from in hopes to surround the uprising. The plan had been simple; Step one was to simply rush in on the culprits from all sides and over power them while releasing any potential victims at the same time. Step two was to gather up those who survived and find something like a chain of command. This step should have been the simplest since any group of usurpers was bound to have at least three natural leaders for the others to turn to in a time of uncertainty._

_Step three; step three was the hardest for the men to do in Fugaku's mind. Step three involved executing each of the leaders by basic seppuku. This allowed the men who participated in the event to retain at least a bit of their honor. Once the leaders were dealt with the rest would lose morale, and from there, well… May Kami pray for their poor unfortunate souls._

_Cackles of laughter could be heard followed by several petrified screams as the men of the uprising did away with the civilian side of the family. It was a little known fact that most of the shinobi side _detested_ the civilian side of the family. They called them "The Leeches" good for nothing but breeding like rabbits and snatching a good portion of the family fortune for their own personal gains. Of course no one knew about the last bit of information, so in years past when the uprising was reviewed it was always looked down upon as a clan holocaust._

_Charred bodies littered the streets behind them as children fled from behind the burning forms of their fathers who had been burned alive while protecting their families. Wives could only scream in terror as they were dragged behind homes, into alleyways or simply out into the street as they were systematically raped, tortured, and then killed. _

_The burning gleam of insanity seemed to never drop from the eyes of some of the men. Their cackling growing with each passing second as they each prepared a handseal for a fire jutsu. Their onyx eyes morphing into a tomoe one or two sharingan as they released a rather large __Grand Fire Ball Technique__ each; the massive balls of fire left a path of destruction behind them as the burning or burnt remains of everything they touched collapsed to the ground. _

_Buildings creaked under their weight before releasing a strained groan as they finally toppled over from the fire. The houses fell like match sticks, each one causing the next to fall over much to the glee of the men who had set them ablaze. So caught up in the burning carcasses of the houses the men failed to notice the police force of the clan sneaking up on them. _

_The battle was quick, and sadly decisive, since the police force easily made up of the Uchiha who were Tokubetsu Jounin and up. Fugaku could almost sigh with contention that the usurpers didn't have too many jounin sprinkled about within them, making the fight easier than it should have been. However something felt off, as though there was one missing among those who were supposed to be captured._

_He frowned as he gave a quick scope around the surrounding frames and alleyways. He searched for possible hiding spots before spotting a fleeing person heading down a more discrete alleyway causing him to grin grimly. He chased after the figure silently, somehow eluding his own men and proceeded to follow the man down an alleyway. _

_His sharingan blazed to life as the darkness consumed him. His head tilted slightly as he noticed that the alleyway was completely empty. He shook his head slightly as he looked about, eyebrows crinkled in irritation as his lead had managed to get the slip on him. The slight rustle of cloth was all that alerted him to someone dropping down behind him before he was backhanded into the half demolished wall behind him._

_Fugaku cried out softly in pain as he slid down the jagged wall, the half crumbled boulders and splintered pylons dug into his back and sliced up his jounin vest and carved soft lines into his skin. The blood burned a trail down his back and he glared up at the figure towering over him. Angered tomoe three sharingan met cool, calm and collect Mangekyou Sharingan as the culprit smiled softly at the man. He half crouched before Fugaku and snorted at the man's predicament before grabbing his chin, forcing him to look him in the eyes. _

"_Hello… _Father…_" the figure spat out as his Mangekyou began to spin hypnotically. Fugaku struggled to fight off the illusion as the world around him began to spin slowly. The figure chuckled as he watched the man's features soften somewhat before becoming completely relaxed. Fugaku laid there with a glassed look in his eyes as his Sharingan deactivated itself. He turned his head to regard the figure before him before smiling softly at who it was. He noticed the ANBU issue blade in his hands as he felt the blade pierce his stomach eliciting a sharp gasp of pain before the darkness began to cloud at the edges of his eyesight. His smile grew as he reached up and cupped to figures face softly, "Your mother... would be so proud of you… Itachi…" he gasped just before slumping over. _

_His chest deflated as the last of the air escaped his lungs just as another figure sped into the clearing._

"_ITACHI!" screamed Sasuke, as he beared down on the boy with a kunai held sloppily in his hands. The elder teen gazed uncaringly at his little brother as he grabbed the boy's wrist roughly before snapping it in a simple smooth motion. The boy cried out in pain as he fell back on his behind while gripping his wrist closely to his body as his brother knelt down before him with a calming smile._

"_Don't worry Sasuke…" he cooed to his little brother, "It'll be over in a second…"_

_Sasuke's eyes widened in realization as Itachi's Mangekyou flared to life, the tomoes spinning dangerously as a crazed grin crossed Itachi's face._

"_TSUKYOMI!"_

[Flashback End]

He had later been found on the ground by his home with a note stuck to his forehead. After being rushed to the hospital by the ANBU corps who had come to investigate the fires, he was later discharged with a minor case of insanity.

Inoichi, having no idea what the boy had been forced to watch, could only help a small bit resulting in Sasuke's mental deterioration. When he would look back on the day, he would always comment on how lucky he was that he still had his clan somewhat even if they were useless in his quest to absolutely destroy his brother.

He sighed and rolled over onto his back before sitting up as a light knock sounded at his door.

"Sasuke-chan", came his mothers soothing voice from the other side of the door, "It's time to get up for school, you'll be late if you stay in bed like that Mr. Broody Bear" (A.N.: See Forums for character info and FAQ's for things like this)

He tsk'd at the name his mother had given him shortly after his father had died. Apparently he was always brooding over the loss of his father but he didn't think so. His father's death gave him the extreme motivation needed to kill his brother, and that's all he cared about.

He stretched up his arms over his head till he heard the 'pop' that came with them shifting back into place before standing up out of bed. He gave his small room a once over before stepping towards his dresser which now featured a padlock since apparently his mother thought it was a good idea to release his fangirls into his room whenever he stayed out late training.

Shaking his head at the thought, he quickly picked out his clothes for the day before heading to the shower. His outfit consisted of a simple mesh body suit under a blue separated sleeved sweater that was under his Uchiha identification vest. He also wore a pair of tan cargo pants with his blue kunai and shuriken holsters strapped to his left leg. On his feet was a simple pair of blue shinobi sandals which covered his lower leg and ankles.

He smirked at his appearance, knowing that this would give him even MORE fangirls (If it was possible), but sometimes it didn't hurt to have admirers especially when you knew they were all after you.

He waved too his mother absently as he snatched a quick slice of toast off the table for running out the door, a trail of dust behind him as he busted ass to get to the Academy on time before Iruka-sensei had to use his infamous Big Head no Jutsu on him for being late…again.

[Uzumaki Apartments]

Uzumaki Naruto groaned out in his dreams as he rolled over and over and…over to dispel the hideous vegetable monster that just so happened to be plaguing his dreams. Unaware to him was his mother, Kushina, and adoptive uncles, Kakashi and Obito, were watching with barely controlled mirth.

"Is he…always like this Kushina-sensei…?" coughed out Obito as he tried to not wake the dreaming blonde.

"Unfortunately…yes…" sweat dropped the boy's mother as he moaned out about not wanting to eat his veggies for the fifteenth time.

Kakashi suddenly found it difficult to stand as the boy yelled out for the Ramen God to come save him from his terrible doom before finally losing it as the boy had managed to find a way to sit up, stand, swing his arms at his invisible foe before finally tripping on his tangled legs, and falling onto the ground.

A cacophony of laughter reached Naruto's ears as he visibly blanched at the fact that at least half of his family was here, and laughing at him for his failure. He sighed and shook his head, knowing he should be used to it by now, and absently wondered why no one bothered to just give him an alarm clock.

Then he thought back, remembering something his uncle Kakashi had told him once.

[Mini Flashback]

_A nine year old Naruto ran up to his uncle who had just gotten off ANBU duty for the day and was currently waiting for said blonde at the village park where he was supposed to watch him upon request from the boy's mother. He chuckled at the little blond blur of energy as he watched the boy bounce about… in place… while restrained. A sweat drop slowly formed on the top of his head as he idly wondered how the boy was doing this before filing it away for later thought._

_Said blonde blur of energy was pouting however, noticing that his favorite uncle had stopped playing with him and was now staring off into space. Knowing how perverted his uncle was sometimes because his Kaa-san told him so, he quickly kicked the poor man in the nads, dropping him where he stood._

"_Ero-Ojisan!" the boy shouted at the man who was currently cradling his nut sack in pain. He coughed heavily, doing a self check for a hernia before sighing in gratitude that he didn't have one. He leveled a small glare on the boy before him as he stood up slowly, wincing every so often from the pain in his nether regions._

_He picked the boy up by the scruff of his neck causing him to yelp in surprise as he held him at face level. "Now what was that for Naruto-kun…" The boy could easily tell he was in trouble from the slight hiss in the man's voice and gulped audibly. _

"_You were staring off into space so I thought you were thinking naughty thoughts, plus Kaa-san said to do it to you if you ever started to stare off into space!" _

_The man's eye twitched visibly as he shook his head before carrying the boy over to a nearby bench and sitting him down on it. "Well then, I'll just have to talk to your Kaa-san wont I…?"_

_The boy nodded slowly, unsure whether to agree with the man who he had recently just kicked in the nuts. He was pretty sure 10,000 children had died in that single action alone, but there was no reason to let his uncle know that._

"_Kakashi-niisan?" the boy asked quickly (A.N. Naruto doesn't really know what to call Kakashi, Obito and Rin so he alternates between Uncles and Aunts, and elder siblings.) "Why does Kaa-san hate alarm clocks? She destroyed another one this morning when it had went off"._

"_Well… Otouto… I don't know what to tell you, aside from the fact that your mother hates being rudely awaken in the morning" he shrugged._

"_But, I thought they were supposed to wake you up in the morning. Or at least that's what Hokage-jiji tells me"._

_Once against Kakashi gave the poor boy a shrug, "That is true, but we all know your mother is special. She needs all the beauty sleep she can get"._

_Naruto, satisfied with this answer, gave his uncle/older brother an excited nod before hopping off the bench to go play, leaving Kakashi to once again become absorbed in his porn, much to the chagrin of the surrounding female population._

[Mini Flashback End]

Figures, his mother was reluctant to give him one simply because she hated them, and him having one meant that she would hear it and would most likely go through the walls just to turn it off. He sighed at the thought as he rolled out of the covers, grumbling at his own misfortune.

He picked up his clothes for the day before ducking to the bathroom as the adults settled back into the living room, waiting for him to get finished as he went about doing his normal morning business.

He exited minutes later, much to the dismay of practically everyone there as he looked at their horrified faces before noticing there was a peculiar draft in his lower region. He sighed and face palmed himself silently as he mumbled, "I forgot my pants didn't I… "

Three disturbing nods, and a lot of embarrassed grumbling later, found our resident jinchuuriki resting on one of his mother's couches in the living room, surrounded by his 'family'.

"So… ", he started off, "Not that I mind being woken up by my family in the morning, but why are you all here…?"

Obito grinned as he slid forward in his seat, the action catching Naruto's attention and prompting Kakashi, and Kushina to give the boy the floor.

"Well Naru-chan, Kushina-sensei told us about your training, or lack thereof and we, Rin-chan included, decided that we were going to train you".

Naruto's eyes widened at this as a grin cracked his face in half, "YATTA! ARE YOU SERIOUS!"

His exclamation almost caught them all off guard, but seeing as this was Naruto, they were well prepared, earplugs and all.

"Yes Naruto, we are serious…" Kakashi droned, he began to yank at his earplugs before noticing that Naruto had about another good outburst in him before deciding to keep them in for the time being as the boy whooped and hollered to the heavens in excitement.

Kushina, having been observing the transaction, smiled at her son's enthusiasm. She knew his enthusiasm was probably miss placed, but she didn't have the heart to tell him about the torture he was going to go through.

"So what are you going to teach me!" asked Naruto excitedly, already picturing all of the cool jutsu and awesome attacks his brothers and sister were going to teach him.

"Chakra control" smirked Obito.

"Chakra… Control…?" deflated Naruto, obviously disappointed and a bit confused at the lame sounding technique that his brothers were going to teach him.

"Yes Otouto, Chakra Control. You need good chakra control before you can start learning the super cool jutsu that me and your other Nii-sans are going to teach you".

"Ne… If you say so Obito-niisan…" Naruto replied defeatedly.

Obito gave a healthy chuckle as he patted the poor boy on the back while Kakashi gave his infamous eye smile. The happy atmosphere was like a sickness and it had spread to Kushina and in turn the Hokage.

The elder man gave a grandfatherly smile to all those present as they all in turn bowed/nodded aside from Naruto, who had given the man his customary tackle hug.

"JIJI!" exclaimed the happy little boy. The tackle had sent the man back a little but not so much that he was prone to fall over.

"It's good to see you too Naruto-kun. Kushina-chan, Kakashi-kun, Obito-kun, It's good to see you all as well" gasped the elderly man as he hugged the blonde boy back.

The trio nodded to the elderly hokage who was finally released from the death grip the boy had held him in. "I see your ready for the first day of the academy Naruto. Iruka has informed me that you are to stay awake this year and not fall asleep like you've done in the previous years… "

Naruto frowned and sighed before nodding in reluctance, "Alright… But his classes are so boring, Rin-neechan always tells me about that stuff beforehand".

"Be that as it may, It doesn't look good for you to be sleeping through your classes every single day" the elderly man chuckled as he patted the pouting boy on the head. "But that's all I came for, I need to get back before Mikoto-chan throws a fit and adds more paperwork on top of the piles that I already have to do. I swear that woman is going to kill me with paperwork one day… "

The group chuckled at the poor man's misfortune before standing up together, "Come on Naru-chan, it's time to go to the academy" called out Kushina just before the boy could go raid the special Ramen cabinet that his mother had set up just for him.

"Aww… One more cup, please!" he pleaded, using his infamous Kit Eye's no Jutsu, complete with fox boy henge and all much to his mothers displeasure. Her eye twitched visibly for a second before finally giving in to the cute spectacle.

"Fine… one more cup, but if your late, I'm going to have Kakashi and Obito double your training weights!" she shouted to the dust trail that Naruto had left in his wake.

"Yeah, Yeah!" he shouted back, already raving about ramen gods and the holiness of ramen.

(Market District)

Emmnanuel sighed as he combed his silver locks out of his hair, his posture and demeanor shocking some of the adults who passed him on his way to the academy. It always seemed like he was years older than he was supposed to be, his silvery gray eyes withholding years of information behind their deep hypnotizing pools.

He often had to deal with what Sasuke Uchiha dubbed 'The fan girl infestation', simply because of his eyes and hair which was, quote on quote, mysterious to them. He rolled his eyes at the notion of them being mysterious before ducking down an alleyway. He sighed as he peaked around the corner, and scanned the crowd, noticing a group of them about fifteen strong waiting, for _him_. He shuddered at the thought as a light tap on his shoulder brought him back to the world of the living with a light yelp.

"What the…?" he began as he faced the perplexed face of one Naruto Uzumaki who was flanked by one Kakashi Hatake, and one Obito Uchiha, two of the most prominent shinobi in the village.

"Hey! Um… ", he began, adopting an irritated yet confused face.

"Emmanuel…" supplied Emmanuel slowly, obviously confused with the proceedings he was taking part in.

"Yeah you! What's up? And why are you hiding behind a wall?" asked Naruto quickly as Emmanuel began to pale considerably. He could tell his fan girls had heard the boy's overly large mouth and sighed before looking around for some place to hide.

Kakashi took note in this and chuckled silently as he felt for the small boy as he too had, had to deal with 'The Fan Girl Infestation'. Deciding to take action he looked over to Obito before meeting his team mate's eyes in a collective thought moment before grabbing both boys and shunshining away just as the fan girls came upon the alleyway.

"I could have sworn I heard him over here…" mumbled one of the lead fan girls whose name will not be mentioned because the character is so insignificant that it won't really matter. The group of girls grumbled in frustration before walking off to the academy since their crush had managed to get the slip on them.

(Academy)

Naruto and much to his displeasure, Emmanuel sat together towards the front of the classroom as they waited for the rest of the class to enter. Naruto, who had been talking the entire time, paid no mind to most if not everyone who entered aside from a select few, namely the future rookie 9 plus a few others. Emmanuel, who had been sitting there silently attempting to drown out the boys voice, had mainly took note of everyone as his grandfather had instructed, taking special notice of those who appeared to be, or wanted to be strong.

He sighed for the eleventh time in ten minutes as a large ruckus reached his ears from down the hallway. His eyebrows visibly rose several centimeters on his forehead as he wondered just what could be causing that sound before sighing again, for the twelfth time.

"I got here first forehead!" _'Ino…' _He thought drearily.

"The hell you did piggy!" _'Sakura…'_ He sighed with regret.

Why was it that all fan girls were loud, and utterly useless in everything that didn't have to do with seduction? He groaned out as they pushed their way past the crowd that had managed to gather around the King of Emo's himself, Sasuke Uchiha, only to begin screeching once again.

"Man… I'm glad I decided to sit with you today", commented Naruto as he watched the spectacle from afar. Sure he had a crush on Sakura, but he wasn't going to get in between the Twin Sirens if he could help it.

"I'm not, in fact, I believe Shika has a spot next to him. I hear he likes Ramen too…" mumbled Emmanuel from behind his sleeves. He sighed with happiness as the seat next to him was vacated seconds later as Naruto instantly shot over to Shikamaru and began to chat him up, much to his own dismay.

"Ne... Ne… Naruto-san, why are you so loud this early in the morning…" complained the lazy pineapple headed genius.

"Because I heard from an important source that you like ramen, and I was hoping we could compare notes!" exclaimed the blonde as he seemingly summoned a massive book of what looked to be ramen recipes; From out of thin air.

Shikamaru sighed as he laid his head down quietly as Chouji smiled to Naruto. "I actually enjoy Ramen myself Naruto-san" commented the fa- I mean plump boy, "Maybe later we can really compare notes seeing as my father enjoys collecting recipes as well…"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically at the thought as others filled into the room as well. He took a quick scan over the crowd before returning to his seat next to Emmanuel who was now sitting up though from the look in his eyes, wasn't paying attention in the slightest.

He sighed as he pulled out a scroll on chakra control that Kakashi had given him earlier catching Emmanuel's attention finally as he peeked over his shoulder somewhat.

"What are you looking at Naruto-san?" asked the boy. He could easily tell himself, but he figured that Naruto would explain it in a much simpler way than the scroll would. And true to his nature the boy began to quote the scroll like it was written by Kami-sama herself.

"Well it covers the basics of chakra control and the definition of chakra itself. It says here that: 'Every living being has a Chakra network that runs in conjunction with their other life sustaining systems... Chakra is formed by one of two bodily forces within living beings... the Spiritual/Soul Force, or the Physical/Body Force... these forces determine the flow of chakra within the body... just as blood flows throughout the human body, the blend of the Soul and Spiritual Forces of Chakra flow in harmony... chakra spells are the result of training in controlling and manipulating and even combining the two forces within the body'" (A.N. I got this from the "Rules of Chakra" used by a site I manage, there's a link to it in the forums)

Emmanuel sighed at the boys attempt to sound… intelligent, which had caught the attention of most of the people around him, including his fanclub.

"Well would you look at that; Naruto actually has a brain…" taunted one, Kiba Inuzuka. His nin dog Akumaru yipped in agreement with the statement as a chorus of chuckles sounded out from the boys jibe.

"Yeah well, at least my breath doesn't smell like Kibbles and Bits!" retorted Naruto angrily. His face scrunched up in frustration at having his moment shattered by someone almost as dumb as him.

A collection of snickers caused Kiba's face to redden slightly as he growled out at the boy, "Oi! How do you know what my breath smells like? What are you a stalker?"

Naruto roared in laughter at the terrible response as he pointed at the boy with his eyes closed in a smirk, "No dog breath, I can smell it from here!"

The snickers turned to full blown laughter as Emmanuel raised his hand in agreement, "It's true…"

That sealed the deal for Kiba as he simply walked away in a defeated slump, his nin dog whimpering out words of encouragement to him as he nodded and sat next to Hinata who was quietly giggling in agreement with Naruto.

Iruka finally decided this was the perfect time to enter as he and Mizuki strutted into the classroom quickly before turning to face the class.

He flashed them all a quick smile before noticing that not everyone was paying attention, "Class…" he called out calmly. His frustration grew as the class continued to ignore him causing him to raise his voice, "Class". He stated again. Once again he was ignored much to the amusement of Mizuki who was quietly sniggering beside him before calmly inhaling a breath of air before going through a set of hand seals which caught everyone's attention.

"What…" Kiba started, already fearing the worst as Iruka threw back his head slightly.

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE" shouted Naruto as he prepared to jump from his seat in fear as Iruka lurched forward his head growing to the size of a rather large disco ball, lights and all.

"SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN NOW!" He bellowed causing them all to flinch and sit straight in their seats.

Mizuki finally lost it, breaking down into a chorus of laughter all by himself. He grabbed his stomach as he stumbled out of the classroom, leaving a stupefied Iruka behind to start off the day.

"Now then, let's take role really quickly…" he stated calmly before pulling out a clipboard. He called out their names one by one, not really paying attention to the class before noting that they were all in fact there.

"Good, now that that's done, we can begin" he stated with an exhale of breath before finally noticing the rapidly waving hand of one Naruto Uzumaki.

"Yes Uzumaki?" he asked quickly.

"What will we be covering Sensei?" the boy asked curiously causing Iruka's lips to twitch into a smile.

"Mainly History Uzumaki, along with a study on tactics and a basic course in chakra control" he stated with a smile causing the Uzumaki heir to groan in boredom.

"BUT I ALREADY KNOW ALL OF THAT STUFF!" he complained loudly, much to Iruka's displeasure. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as his eyebrow twitched visibly showing off his irritation.

"Be that as it may, not everyone else knows the things you do; therefore we cover it in school. Maybe you'd like to be teacher for a day, and show me how it's done hmm?" he asked calmly.

Naruto blushed in embarrassment as he waved both hands at the man, "That's not necessary sensei I was just saying…" He chuckled nervously as the man nodded before turning back to the class. Naruto frowned and flicked his tongue out at the man before putting it away hoping he didn't notice.

"Good now every open your history books to page 132, and start reading on the history of the bloodline wars, oh and Naruto?" he asked calmly.

The boy blinked as he looked up from his Chakra Control scroll that was hidden in his history book, "Yes Iruka-sensei?" he asked quickly.

"You have detention today after school" the man replied with a smirk causing the boy to blanch at the thought. He could hear the snickers as he slammed his head on the desk and groaned to himself. Of course he had seen him stick his tongue at him.

He sighed as he picked his head off the desk before shaking it slowly. It was going to be a very long year…


	3. Insert Stalker Here

**A.N.**: This is simply a preview of the chapter. I felt that I had taken long enough to get this far (I have reason but I wont explain them seeing as they'd probably be seen as weak excuses anyway). I should be finishing up the full chapter soon but for now this will do.

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Naruto frowned to himself as he sat towards the back of the class. He had been in detention for what seemed like hours but it had only been thirty minutes. What made it so bad was the fact that detention was during recess, so he had to watch all of the other kids go outside and play.

'_It's official, Iruka-sensei, sucks…_', the boy thought gloomily

"I can hear you Naruto…" the man called out cheekily causing Naruto's head to spin towards him.

"I call your bluff Sensei" he said with a straight face. There was no way in hell that Sensei had heard what he had said in his _mind._

"Oh really, well seeing as you just fessed up to saying something about me, there's no reason to bluff now is it" he replied with a smirk. Naruto pouted and threw his arms up in the air in defeat before slamming his face on the desk earning a slight wince from Iruka.

"That looked like it hurt…" he said with a hint of concern.

"You have no idea…" mumbled Naruto from his pool of blood and drool.

(10 Minutes later)

"Man fuck this!" came an enraged roar as three figures burst into make shift detention room. One was a rather tall (by ten year old standards) male with a rather poufy hairdo and shades. He seemed to be wearing a black half hooded sweater that covered his arms and chest but seemed to leave his stomach and abs open to the world. Underneath the sweater was a black muscle shirt that hugged his abs slightly leaving practically nothing to imagination.

The next was an obviously irate female who had tan skin and really sharp teeth. She had spiky red hair, and way too much eye shadow. Her outfit was very modest considering her attitude, consisting mainly of a dark brown kunoichi dress with black tights underneath. She wore black combat boots with brown fur on top and had her weapon holsters attached to a make shift belt that was strapped around her waist. A black strap went diagonally across her rather small chest that held the scabbard to a black nodachi.

The last was a rather quite male who seemed to be…asleep. His eyes were closed, or well you couldn't tell because they were hidden behind his glasses. However he was walking perfectly. His hands were encased in a black straight jacket with shiny silver hooks hanging at the side. His mouth was hidden by the collar of his jacket as were his black hair. He wore a pair of black shinobi pants along with a pair of blue shinobi sandals. On the back of his jacket was the Uchiha crest.

Iruka raised a visible eyebrow at the three, not really noticing them in his classroom before noticing the teacher following them.

"What are they in here for?" he asked, noticing that the kid with the straight jacket seemed to be listening very intently.

"Oh minor delinquency. I'd be careful around Kouen and Shino, they can be a handful. It seems the only one who can keep them from… being disruptive is Chi here, but she's a mini diva herself as you've heard. You only have to hold them for thirty minutes as I'm waiting for their parents to come get them". Iruka nodded absently as he motioned up into the classroom and watched as the three shuffled to a couple of random seats throughout the room.

Naruto, having finally woken up from his self induced coma, looked around at the three, taking special interest in the girl in particular. Her presence seemed to get a rise out of his 'inner demon' as he liked to call it. The other two merely piqued his interest as no one ever dressed like that in the academy, though he wasn't one to talk with his orange jumpsuit that literally screamed "Kill me" (No seriously, a random drunk wrote 'Kill Me' on the back with permanent marker one day and he never showed it to his mother).

'_Might be time for a change of clothes…_' he thought gloomily as he watched the three stare off into different directions as though they were mad with each other. He sighed and stood up from his seat before heading down the stairs to the door.

"My times up Iruka-sensei, see ya tomorrow!" he called out with a wave before closing the door behind himself. He sighed as he stuffed his hands into his pockets before walking out the building at a leisurely pace, not at all noticing the bugs following him.

(Back in the classroom)

"Did you tag him?" came a whispered call from Chi, her eyes pointed in a different direction as she tried to keep the heat off of herself. Her eyes were looking almost through the wall as a small smirk crossed her face when Shino nodded his head softly.

"Good, Kouen you remember the plan right? Only kill if the kid is deemed a bigger threat, we don't need to bring even more heat on us that we already have".

The silent boy turned towards her, causing her to flinch slightly. Even though she couldn't see his face somewhat she could tell he was looking directly at her, almost as if he were seeing _through_ her. A whispered gasp came through her mind that caused her knees to shake before he turned away.

'_Understood…_'

(Back with Naruto)

'_Oh shit, Oh shit, Oh shit, Oh shit, I'm SO dead right now_', Naruto mentally panicked as he rushed towards the person training grounds that his 'family' used. Turning the corner that lead into the training field, a small swish that reminded him of a kunai slicing through the air was all the warning he got before jumping to the ground as a hand axe impacted the wood right behind where his head just was.

"WHAT THE HELL! I WAS ONLY A COUPLE MINUTES LATE 'TEBAYO" he shouted to the air seemingly as his survival teacher, one sexy (and single) Mitarashi Anko, appeared in the trees above him.

"Actually… Your two hours and forty five minutes late, but who's counting small time right…" She grinned as his other trainers popped into view; he noticed that Obito was the one holding the throwing axes and scowled.

"Well, I'm here now, can we please get to training now?" he asked hopefully, but knowing his luck it was for naught.

A thoughtful pose and a couple of dirty chuckles later, we find our orange loving hero struggling to complete his fifteenth lap… with one hundred pound weights strapped to each leg and a large boulder tied to his waist. He cried out in agony as he pushed his body harder, ignoring the amused chuckles he was receiving from his supposed family members.

"It's official, I hate you all!" he shouted as he tripped on a microscopic piece of dirt and fell to his face, eliciting roars of laughter from everyone watching.

"Well, don't be late, and we won't have to tor- I mean train you like this again. Now hurry up, the sooner you get done the sooner we can go home. Kushina-sensei gave us permission to keep you out here as long as it takes you to complete the training" Obito said with a smirk. Naruto blanched at the thought of staying out here till class tomorrow and pushed himself up onto his fore arms before setting himself into a track starting stance. Arching his back, his fingers gripped the dirt before shooting off, only to feel the collective weight snap line him back to the ground.

Head ringing, the peals of laughter still managed to reach his inner conscious where a lone figure stood there chuckling his ass off, '**Humans… never cease to amuse me do they…**'

Hours later we see that Naruto had FINALLY managed to get done, even if it was only one thirty in the morning.

"'Tebayo…" he wheezed happily, "I knew I could do it…" he smirked as he pitched over before promptly passing out on the ground with a happy smile on his face, much to the amusement of his teachers who simply picked him up and carried him back home to begin the process once again.

(Secluded Location AKA The Teachers Lounge)

"So why are we here again…?" asked a simple, random no name chuunin. Iruka had the same question but figured it was better to let the new guy get chewed out than stick his neck out and have the same happen.

"It'll be explained in a minute, Just wait for Hokage-sama to show up" he hissed as an audible puff signified their leader appearing.

"Good you're all here" the aged Kage began, "I'd like to begin by stating that the Academy Curriculum will be receiving a test revamp in efforts to increase genin proficiency. Like the Bloody Mist before us, we will be implementing a 'Battle Ladder' so to speak, of the genin in training already. The purpose of this 'Battle Ladder' is to encourage a healthy training regime as well as a good dose of competition in the genin in the areas that matter rather than book smarts. I know a few of you have felt the same way about this so no need to worry.

The rules are simple, there are no rules. This is a ninja academy, and we are training these children to be the best warriors the world has ever seen before. There are no rules in the real world, only swiftly made alliances, which can be made and registered with you the teachers. The only matches that count are official matches that are requested between them and you the teachers. These official matches will be under the premise of a mission parameters, however death can and will most likely occur in these matches.

This experiment does not have to be implemented now, but I would like it if it was activated before the first grading margin as to give a good enough period of time between its activation and the year's end". The teachers looked on in shock as they understood fully what this program was about.

"So what about fights that occur outside of these 'Official Matches' do they count and are they allowed as well?" Iruka asked patiently as he had a few notes jotted down on his notepad, "Also are we as instructors allowed to increase the rules or change them in anyway?"

Sarutobi looked over at the man before nodding, "Yes you may, but only within the parameters set. I would like this program to be as realistic as possible. So within those parameters you may change the rules as freely as you like. Now if that's all the questions, I bid you all good night".

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**A.N.**: Now I know the story hasn't been up long enough, or is long enough to warrant such attention, but 40 views in 3 weeks is kinda bad for business, add to that only 1 favorite and 2 alerts (one of them is my beta which is even worse) and no reviews? How am I supposed to make the story interesting if no one reviews and tells me what they like, dislike, hate or absolutely loath. Just a quick "Hey I noticed that you have a plot problem" or "I think you should do this" would suffice. Also if anyone would like to draw all of the characters for me that would be nice (All of them except the known adults have different wardrobes).


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